American Medical Biographies/Armsby, James H.
Armsby, James H. (1809–1875)
Armsby, an enthusiastic surgeon, was determined that the doctors and students of Albany, New York, should have everything necessary to advance their interests, and he carried out by hard work and persuasion many of his pet schemes for this end.
He came into the world on December 31, 1809, in Sutton, Massachusetts, the son of an impecunious but long-headed farmer. When twenty he left the farm and began studying medicine under Dr. Alden March (q.v.) in Albany.
After graduating M. D. from the Vermont Academy of Medicine in 1833, he associated himself in Albany with Dr. March as teacher in a "School of Anatomy and Surgery," a school which had been originated by Dr. March twelve years before in a garret.
Soon after his arrival in Albany he got up a petition to render dissections of the human body legal and for the establishment of a medical college and hospital. In 1838 he delivered a course of popular lectures illustrated by dissections of the human subject which were attended by some three hundred of Albany's citizens and brought in subscriptions for the projected college, erected in 1839, with Dr. Armsby as professor of surgery and president.
This school founded, he took time from his anatomical studies to advance the founding of the Albany Hospital and, that accomplished, he lent his whole energies to those who were interested in obtaining a university, a design which first met with little encouragement but was finally realized in 1873.
Even when in Europe he remembered Albany and brought back a rich collection of models for the college museum, and when United States Consul at Naples for awhile the Neapolitans had their first experience of a scientific lecturer. In Albany he was known as an accomplished operator and surgical lecturer. His profound knowledge of anatomy, his mechanical dexterity, and his clearness in elucidating every point made his lectures eagerly sought by students.
He married in 1841, Anna L., daughter of the Hon. Gideon Hawley, and had two children, the son, Gideon H., becoming a physician. By his second wife, Sarah Winne, married in 1853, he had one daughter.
His death, which came very unexpectedly December 3, 1875, from pulmonary congestion and heart disease, deprived Albany of a most devoted citizen and clever surgeon.
He gave the surgical world an interesting illustrated work, "Photographs of Pathological Specimens from the United States Isa Harris General Hospital," two volumes, and a "History of the Albany City Hospital."